"Peak Control, this is Sabre 1. We have apprehended the fugitive and are preparing to make orbit shortly," Spider-Woman said as she spoke into the ship's comms. "Copy that Sabre 1, we'll have accommodations ready for your arrival," the operator responded. "Good work out there, Peak Control out." The S.W.O.R.D. agent ended the transmission just as the jump jet began to take off from the ground.
She stood up and exited the cockpit to check on the prisoner. As she entered the hold, Spider-Woman noticed that her prisoner was just as she left him: sitting quietly on the floor in a meditative position. The Jedi was so calm and still that Spider-Woman even wondered if he might have just dozed off. His companion, whom she hadn't seen before, merely sat on one of the seats next to him, refusing to say anything since their capture. Two other agents stood behind Marr, flanking him and aiming their weapons directly at him. However, the Jedi remained completely undisturbed by this and Spider-Woman made her way over towards the pair, taking a seat directly opposite them.
"Glad you two made yourself comfortable," She smirked at the pair of them. "It won't be long before we reach the Peak and my Commander has a lot of questions for you." Marr didn't respond to her in any way, he merely continued to meditate. "For starters," the agent continued, now looking towards Icon, "Where exactly did you come from?"
"Oh! Well, If you must know I was constructed on the factory world of Affa by Cybot Galactica…" But before he continued on he was interrupted by the agent. "Wait... Constructed?", she asked in surprise. The droid was left speechless after realising his mistake and decided to then drop his holographic disguise and reveal his true self. "I am 1K-0N, human-cyborg relations." Spider-Woman sized up the droid, examining its skeletal-like frame and glowing eyes, "So you're just a robot." the words had hardly left her mouth before Icon stood up abruptly, alerting the agents guarding them. "I assure you I am no mere mindless drone, I am a sophisticated protocol droid. My AA-1 VerboBrain…" Before he carried on, Marr, without opening his eyes and barely moving his posture, calmly raised his hand, prompting the droid to slowly sit back down and remain quiet. Spider-Woman turned to face Marr once again, who continued to remain in his meditative state as she shifted her posture into a more suggestive position.
"Now, how about you tell me a little something about yourself, handsome," the Jedi continued to remain unresponsive to her attempts to engage with him, much to her frustration. "Well, you're quite the conversationalist, aren't you?" The silence was starting to annoy her slightly, and she leaned in closer to Marrs's face, only to notice that the Jedi wasn't even making a sound. Puzzled, she took a closer look at his chest and noticed that it wasn't moving in the slightest. This alarmed the agent, who shot to her feet and rushed over to an emergency medkit hanging nearby. Confused, Icon asked what was going on, and Spider-Woman announced that the Jedi wasn't breathing. Before the agent could step closer to his master, Icon once again got to his feet, stood between the two of them, and started to explain some things to the agent.
"Breath Control?" Spider-Woman repeated as she listened to the droid's hasty explanation. "Yes, it's a Jedi technique my master informed me of. He can use the Force to preserve the oxygen in his lungs while at the same time preventing his body from shutting down," the agent stared at the droid, "OK first off, what is the Force? Secondly, why?" Icon admitted that he couldn't possibly begin to explain what the Force is since even he couldn't fully process it. But he informed Spider-Woman that the only explanation he could think of was that his master must be trying to prevent any foreign substances or toxins from entering his respiratory system. After hearing this explanation, Spider-Woman was hit with a realization. She returned the medkit and proceeded back towards her seat before raising her hands playfully in defeat. "OK, you win. No more Pheromones, I'm putting them away." Spider-Woman concentrated and reduced the amount of pheromones she was producing. Over the years, she learned to harness this ability and apply it in more practical means, like an interrogation.
After a few moments, Marr slowly started breathing normally again and awoke from his trance. He offered his appreciation and moved to sit beside his friend, facing opposite his captor. "Now, perhaps we can pass the time with a civilized conversation instead of an interrogation," Spider-Woman was a little taken aback at how calm and collected he was behaving. She opened first by asking how he was made aware of her ability. Marr politely informed her that during their last encounter onboard the Peak, he felt unusually flustered while she was near him. Marr had recognized the sensation of this ability and knew to be on his guard if they were to encounter each other again. "I'm just surprised that you even noticed what was happening. There haven't been many people I've met who could recognize that what they were feeling wasn't natural." Marr offered her a soft smile, "When you've met a few Zeltrons in your life, you learn to recognize your own emotions."
He continued to explain who the Zeltrons were and how they possessed a similar ability to her own. Spider-Woman was very intrigued to learn of a whole race like that. However, before she could inquire any further, Marr asked a question of his own. "I must admit I am surprised you haven't put my companion or me in any restraints?' She explained how she read the reports from several agents that he had engaged with during his escape from S.W.O.R.D. custody. Despite the weapons he wielded, he took a non-lethal approach to handling them. 'And judging from what I saw, it was easy to determine that you had no malicious intent,' Spider-Woman concluded. 'So when you and your friend surrendered quietly, it didn't seem necessary.'
Marr thanked her for her trust and assured her that it was not misplaced. "And after the way you protected those mutant kids," the agent went on, "it was easy to see what kind of man you were." Marr was surprised that she was aware of this encounter and Spider-Women explained further about how during her investigation, assuming his ship was damaged, the radius of his last sighting and knowledge of the local area thanks to some friends, she was able to deduce his most logical course of action. She knew the location of the former Damage Control site and that it was Marrs best chance to repair his ship. However, she was unaware that the facility was overtaken by the M.R.D. and when they were attacked by Sentinels, she was ordered to not engage.
"Were your superiors aware of the younglings in my charge?" Marr asked rather sternly, "At first... No," Spider-Woman responded. "However, when their presence became known, I requested to move in. At that point, I was made aware that the X-Men were only minutes out and decided to stay out of their way." She offered Marr a reassuring smile, "Trust me, those guys are the ones you want bailing you out when you are knee-deep in Sentinels." Marr still wanted to size his captor up so he followed up with a question, "If they hadn't shown up, would you have defied your orders to help us?"
"Of course, I would have." Spider-Woman quickly blurted out, mildly offended by the remark. Marr on the other hand only smiled at her answer, now reassured of her character. "Tell me, what should I be expecting, when we reach our destination?", Spider-Women informed Marr that he and Icon would be held in temporary custody on board the Peak and once the Director is satisfied, he'll be ordered to leave the planet. Marr explained how that request was not possible since his ship was damaged during the previous encounter with S.W.O.R.D. Forces. Spider-Women then reassured him that should he cooperate, they would assist him in repairs, so long as he left Earth space immediately afterwards. "Do I detect a certain level of mistrust towards non-humans then?", Marr asked frankly, "It's complicated", the agent explained, "S.W.O.R.Ds purpose is to protect the planet from off-world threats and with the increased tension between the Galactic powers recently, everyone has been on edge."
"Is that why I received such a hostile welcome?" Marr asked with a coy smile. The agent shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable with what the Jedi was referring to. "On behalf of my organization, I would like to offer our sincere apologies for the way you were treated upon your arrival. Captain Marvel was out of line, and if you wish to press charges...
"No," Marr simply stated, much to Spider-Woman's surprise. "Considering how I escaped custody, damaged your ships, and no doubt violated your planet's customs laws, I think we can leave that matter be." Spider-Woman chuckled softly. "For the moment, maybe. Director Brand has a lot of questions regarding that ship of yours…"
Their conversation was interrupted by Spider-Woman's comlink going off. She quickly answered it and engaged in a short conversation with the person on the other end before deactivating it. "Problem?" Marr asked casually. "We'll be taking a slight detour," she answered. "Vista Verde is under attack again and we need to respond."'ve been ordered to steer clear." Marr almost dropped his jaw in bewilderment at her calm attitude. He jumped from his seat and attempted to reach the cockpit, only to have his way blocked by the guards. He called on the pilot to change course, but he was ignored. "It'll be fine, that's Hulk and his team's territory," Spider-Woman explained, "I'm sure whatever it is, they can handle…"
"Ma'am, I have a visual on Vista Verde," the pilot called out. "Maybe you should take a look at this?" Spider-Woman made her way over to the cockpit and gazed out to see the small New Mexico town in the distance. The view sent shivers up the experienced agent's spine as she uttered only two words, "Oh, crap."